Drying rack



June 15, 1965 I s, ZEPER 3,189,188

DRYING RACK Filed May ll, 1962 I Fig-.5

f- INVENTOR.

fxl//l/lll/l SHIRLEY ZEPER ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,189,133DRYING RACK Shirley Zeper, 8448 Forrest Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. FiledMay 11, 1962, Ser. No. 193,981 2 Claims. .(Cl. 211-105.1)

This invention relatesto a drying rack and in particular to an improvedrack for drying Wet garments such as bathing suits, etc.

Traveling conditions for car travelers in the United States haveimproved rapidly Within recent years. Many motels boast, in addition tothe usual television sets, swimming pools lboth indoor and outdoor.These pools are finding great favor with travelers, especially insouthern climates all year round and in northern zones during the summermonths. Despite all of these improvements, however, most motel operatorshave not yet provided any special and effective apparatus which wouldenable the traveler to have his wet bathing suit dry out quickly `enoughto enable it to dry by the next day for use again or to be packed forthe next days travel. Consequently, the traveler must resort to whateverequipment -is at hand in order to attempt to dry out his suit. Veryoften the guest will place the bathing suitl over a radiator which mayor may not be heated. If it is, when the guest wishes to pack the suitthe next day, he will find that it has dried itno a corrugated masswhose contours follow the contours of the radiator. Besides, the waterfrom thesuit drips onto the floor causing a messy and dangerous pool.The radiators are often rusty and leave spots on the garments. Sometimeslthe guests will drape the wet suit over the shower curtain rod and thewater in the suit will drip onto the bathroom iloor. Also, in thesemakeshift arrangements, since the front and rear parts of the batliingsuit are very close to one another, not much air can circulatein-between and the drying process is considerably retarded. Still otherguests hang their bathing suits on a wire or Wooden hanger and somehowsuspend the top part of the hanger from an appropriate point. Theexpedient oiiten has the disadvantage that the bathing suit is so heavythat it will deform the Wire hanger and possibly slip to the floor or,if it does not fall, does not permit much air to circulate between thefront and rear portions of the suit and hence drying is a very slowprocess. Wooden hangers, though stronger and more rigid, easily becomeruined by water, which may cause warping and discoloration. Even thesehangers do not spread the 4front and rear portions suiciently far apartto permit drying-and it is diicult to hang more than one suit on eachhanger. As is the case with wire hangers, wooden hangers do not separatethe front and back portions of 4the suits suiciently to enable goodcirculation of air through them. Y

From the standpoint of the motel owner, this lack of convenient andadequate inside hanging equipment often .induces the guests to hangtheir suit-s outside on a railing which may be located'near the pool.Here, again,the front and rear parts of the suit are pressed against oneanother. Besides', this presentsa very unesthetic appearance to theother guests'and also to prospective guests.

While it would be very advantageous for-V the motel owner and his gueststo provide equipment for use inside for drying bathing suits and otherwet garments, this equipment should preferably be capable of beinginstalled permanently into the mortel premises to -avoid loss of itthrough theft.

3,189,188 Patented June 15, 1965 ice celerate the drying process..

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drying rack forwet garments that may be installed so as to avoid dripping of water fromthe garments onto floors.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drying rack for wetgarments, which promotes more rapid drying of the garments by enablingVbetter circulation of air through them.

Still another object of the inventtion'is to provide a novel drying rackfor wet garments, which does not discolor or distort the shape ofthegarments.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drying rack onto whichthe wet garments may be easily placed and withdrawn and is constructedto prevent said garments from sliding oi.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a novel drying rackfor wet garments, which may be permanently installed in motels and thelike, Without taking up any substantial amount of useful spa'ce.

Other objects of the invention may be appreciated from a reading of aspecication and claims herein taken in conjunction with the drawings inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of one form of my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation view of another form of my invention; Y

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged and partly sectional detail of a corner of theapparatus shown in FIG. 2 taken along the section lines 3 3 inthedirection indicated;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation view of my invention in another of itsfonrns; andY FIGURE 5 is a perspective View of the apparatus shown inFIG. 4.

FIGURE 6 is a plan View, partly in phantom, of still another embodimentof my invention.

In accordance with my invention, I have devised an inexpensive andpractical drying rack, which is characterized by having dimensions suchthat when the wet garment is placed, by means of an appropriate openingin the garment, over the rack, the opopsite parts of the garment will bespaced from one another sutiiciently for air to circulate freelytherein, so as to speed up the drying process. In one form of theinvention, an elongated, transversely corrugated horizontal member,having turnedup ends, is employed. The corrugationsabet the circulationof air under the part of the garment which is suspended on the rack, andthe turned-up ends prevent the wet garments from slipping oi, should therack flex somewhat under the weight of it. In another form oftheinvention, the rack may lbe madeV from a single piece of plastic, whichis yfolded back on itself at each end and then folded inwardly andtwisted to form two horizontal projections; whose free ends are spacedfrom one another ample, while the top of the C-member is disposed aroundthe shower curtain rod. Since the rack is suspended between the showerwall and the shower curtain, the dripping clothes will drip only on theinside Aof the bathtub and hence will not produce troublesome puddles ofwater on the floor.

Referring to FIGURE 1, one form of my invention is shown, whichcomprises a dat vertical section 10, which is aixed by screws 1,1 orother appropriate fasteners to a vertical wall or other member. Ahorizontal elongated portion 12 has a number of transverse corrugations1S formed therein and is connected to the vertical section 10, orisformed integraltherewith. When wet garments 14 are placed with theirshoulder straps 14a over the section 12, the `cor-rugations 13 tend tokeep the shoulder straps 14a spaced from fone another, even if the leftpart of the elongated member 12 should bend down somewhat under theweight of the garments. The corrugations also promote -air circulation,if the wet suit is put on the rack by passing the horizontal portion 12through the trunk opening of a pair of bathing shorts, for example, andout one of the leg openings. Also, since the portion 12 has asubstantial front-to-back depth, the front and back sides of thegarments are spaced well away from one another, so that air cancirculate through the suit thereby speeding up the drying process. Thematerial, of which thepart-s and 12 are made, should not be corrodible,lest the corrosion stain the garments. iFor this reason, a rigid plasticmaterial is to be preferred.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, another form of my invention is shown,which may be easily formed out of a single elongated piece of plasticmaterial, for example. It comprises a vertical Wall-mounting section 16,which includes respect-ive left and right folded-over portions orprojecting sections Y17 and 18, and dat, horizontally-disposed portionsI19 and 20, extending toward one another and terminating in .upturnedportions 21 `and 22. As in the first embodiment of my invention, theport-ions 19 and 20 have a front-to-back depth, suflicient to separatethe front and back portions of the wet garments, for instance, by atleast several inches to permit the passage of air. The Space -betweenthe turned-up portions 21 and 22 permits the shoulder strap or otheropening in the wet garments to be passed over the portions 19 and 20.The turned-up ends 21 and 22 prevent the garments `from slipping off,should the weight of the Wet garments tend to pull down the horizontalportions 19 and 20. If desired, the portions 19 and 2o may be corrugatedto help in circulating the air and yin keeping the shoulder straps ofthe wet garments separate from one another. As in the rst embodiment,the entire rack should be made of a noncorrosive material to preventstaining of the garments.

FIGURE 4 shows still another embodiment of my invention and includes ahorizontal flat portion 26, an end portion 27, which is substantiallyperpendicular to the top 26, an opposite end portion 28, which is curvedsomewhat t-o t around Ia shower curtain rod 29, and two horizontal flatportions 30 and 31 extending inward toward one another. The portions 30and 3.1 have respective turned-up ends 32 and `33 spaced from oneanother to permit the Wet garments 14 to be inserted onto the portions30 and 31. One or more holes (not shown) are vided in the end portion 27to permit one or more screws 36 to pass through it and to .be screwedinto a wall or other supporting member 37. These screws 36 will make4the installation permanent and discourage attempts to remove it frompublic places like hotels and motels, for example. One or more bolts 3S(see also FIG. 5) are passed through apertures (not shown) in theportions 26 and 31 and fastened by nuts 39 to assist in preventingremoval of the rack and also to prevent movement of the end portion 28away from the rod 29 when the heavy wet garments are placed on theportion 31. The same effect can be achieved by forming in either or bothof the portions 26 and 31 an upwardly or downwardly-extending ridge orboss not shown) right next to the rod 29. These ridges exert acompressive force on the rod 29.

It should be appreciated that the portion 26 can be made in two sections(not shown), which partially overlap and have a number of holes therein.By aligning the holes with one another and passing bolts through them,the two sections may be connected for any desired length. If the lengthis longer than the span from the bathtub Wall to the rod, no permanentfastening devices like screws 36 are necessary to hold the left portion27 up. Of course, left portion 27 will be somewhat longer to compensatefor the fact that the section 26 is tilted up at the wall end, so thatthe portion 3) can be substantially co-planar with portion 31. With thisarrangement the traveler can carry his own rack from motel to motel.

FIGURE 6 shows still another form of my invention which includes aVwall-mounting portion 40 having two upper anged portions 40a and 4Gb.The left flange 4(911 has formed therein a curved slot 44 and anaperture (not shown) in which downwardly depending pegs or pins 43 and42 are respectively disposed. These pins are connected at the left endof clothes supporting member 41. Member 41 ordinarily is supported bythe flanges 40a and db when `supporting clothes to be dried or when notin such use. When clothes are to be hung the member 41 is pivoted towardthe .user (clockwise as seen in FIG. 6) and the shoulder str-ap orcrotch portions are slipped over it whereupon it is then pivoted awayfrom the user (counter-clockwise FIG. 6) and its right end is broughtt-o rest upon ange 4%. The reverse procedure is employed in taking thedry clothes off.

If desired, the pins 42 and 43 may be provided with transverse holesnear the lower ends to enable clothes pins or similar devices to beinserted after the pins are placed in their respective hole and slot inflange 40a. This prevents member 41 from being dislodged from ange 49aduring the loading and unloading operation.

Still other variations which do not depart from the essence of myinvention will occur to those skilled in the art. Consequently, I desiremy invention to be limited only by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A 4unitary rack -for drying 4apertured wet garments comprising: asubstantially at elongated section of sheet material `for connection toa supporting surface, rst and second projecting sections of sheetmaterial respectively connected to said elongated section at each endthereof and extending generally transverse thereto, and twogarment-engaging sections of sheet material connected respectively tosaid first and second sections and extending inwardly therefrom towardone another with their respective free ends spaced from each other, saidgarment-engaging sections being substantially flat and relatively widefor preventing substantially all of the opposing inner surfaces ofgarments slipped thereover from touching one another, and saidgarment-engaging sections being disposed substantially perpendicular tosaid elongated section and to said -rst and second projecting sections.

2. The unitary rack according t-o claim 1 wherein said elongatedsection, said projecting portions and said two garment-engagingsect-ions are all formed out a single piece of plastic material, whereinsaid projecting portions are bent outwardly from said single piece attwo points References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS926,945 7/09 Howland 211--87 1,028,520 6/12 Zimmerman 244-95 1,227,4215/17 Gilliland 211-87 (Other references on following page) UNITED STATESPATENTS Olson 211--123 Bowers 220-3.9 Starner 211-123 Desmarais 211-87Poole 211-89 Waite 211-96 Case 211123 Watral 211-123 CLAUDE A. LE ROY,Primary Examiner.

1. A UNITARY RACK FOR DRYING APERTURED WET GARMENTS COMPRISING: ASUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ELONGATED SECTION OF SHEET MATERIAL FOR CONNECTION TOA SUPPORTING SURFACE, FIRST AND SECOND PROJECTING SECTIONS OF SHEETMATERIAL RESPECTIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID ELONGATED SECTION AT EACH ENDTHEREOF AND EXTENDING GENERALLY TRANSVERSE THERETO, AND TWOGARMENT-ENGAGING SECTIONS OF SHEET MATERIAL CONNECTED RESPECTIVELY TOSAID FIRST AND SECOND SECTIONS AND EXTENDING INWARDLY THEREFROM TOWARDONE ANOTHET WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE FREE ENDS SPACED FROM EACH OTHER, SAIDGARMENT-ENGAGING SECTIONS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT AND RELATIVELY WIDEFOR PREVENTING SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE OPPOSING INNER SURFACES OFGARMENTS SLIPPED THEREOVER FROM TOUCHING ONE ANOTHER, AND SAIDGARMENT-ENGAGING SECTIONS BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TOSAID ELONGATED SECTION AND TO SAID FIRST AND SECOND PROJECTING SECTIONS.